A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
Pa treon.com/HolyJoker
(20+ chapters in advance)
______
Chapter 62 - Tides of Fate
***
Looking down, Sokka felt as if molten lava was spreading through his body. Was it the curse? Such a strange sensation, he never felt before. Even as the pain was being canceled by [Gamer's Body] it reignited instantly again due to the curse.
"You know, fate and luck are things that have balance. For every good thing that happens to a person, an equally bad thing must happen too. That's how things stay in balance." said the old man, his white beard made him seem like a gentle and grandfatherly figure. But his actions told a different story.
Sokka tried moving his body, but it was stuck in place as if the space around him was locked. He sighed, seeing that there was no way to get out. With that in mind, he decided to at least get some information. "Why are you even after me, old man? I have no enmity with you or anyone that would want to kill me."
His voice sounded innocent as if he truly didn't know why he was attacked. That made the old man frown. Was it right to kill someone who tilts the world's balance without meaning to? This was the age-old dilemma, whether you should kill one person to save two. With no other choice on the matter, most people would choose to save the two guys. But what if those guys were criminals? They were serial killers?
Even then, was it right for you to choose someone else's life or death?
Many questions like that rattled the old spirit's brains. He contemplated how things could go, or what will become of it. Would letting Sokka go be a good option.
Sokka on the other hand was trapped, he tried tugging but there was no chance of movement. Luck could help during situations like this, but with a 0% chance, there was nothing even Luck could interfere with. There was no way Sokka could play the situation to his advantage.
He wanted to teleport away, but clicking his boots together was impossible too due to being unable to move. Still, since he wouldn't want to fight someone without having information. "Hey, old man, how about you let me go? I have never done bad things in my life. I never even killed someone."
Sokka's felt his heart come up to his throat as he said the last part. Because it wasn't the truth at all. Normally he would have never said something like that. Because it wouldn't be hard to guess that the old man had been observing him. Still, Sokka trusted in one thing… that was his Luck.
Planning for when you are too successful in something. Sokka had been caught off guard when during the time of Zhao's blockade the people seemed to listen to his words so clearly. Following as if he was their saintly savior.
That time he had been unprepared, but now, he was fully prepared to try his Luck. Test if the old man had been observing him at a bad time. Just like when the Evil Lady was taken by surprise with his bending not knowing initially, Sokka did something he never liked doing. He took a gamble.
The old man's frown accentuated his wrinkles even more. "...." he stood silent, and it made Sokka a little nervous.
Maybe he shouldn't have tested things out? While having Luck was good, relying on it too much would become a crutch. Though it wasn't like he had any other choice.
"You are right," the old man sighed. He had observed Sokka for quite a while. But not even once he had seen anything bad, or even suspicious about the young man. He was good enough for the Evil Lady to take an interest in. She mostly killed off kind warriors who were non-benders.
While conflict between spirits at their caliber was uncommon and something that would only open a path for someone to kill them both. The old man didn't mind that Sokka killed the Evil Lady, he was even glad. Someone like her had nothing but evil and malice to offer to the world.
Yet, the old man, he was the Spirit of Fate, someone who had a prophetic-like ability and could grasp small glances of the future. Even with the glances he got, there was no sign of Sokka doing something explicitly evil. In reality, he was just doing good things.
*sigh* "Kid," the old man rubbed his forehead, trying to think of what to say. "You are someone who I would look after if the circumstances were different. Good people like you restore my faith in humanity. But the world needs balance, and as the Spirit of Fate, I can tell that you were never supposed to be so… fate-defying."
Fate, something that was like a river. Throwing stones at it could cause ripples in it, but it wouldn't change the direction of the river. There have been some people who have been able to change their fate, essentially putting a dam and delaying things like their death, or the death of a loved one.
But Sokka was different, he had changed the direction of the river. It was more than just digging a canal, it was as if he picked up the river and changed its direction. No, that wasn't it either. The whole river moved as if to benefit him. Fate sometimes wasn't kind to its owner, even when it was, there were usually repercussions. But for Sokka, it was different, as if lady fate itself was spreading her legs for him.
Even the old man, as the Spirit of Fate, wouldn't say that his fate was something he could control or have it flow how he wanted to.
***
-Sokka POV-
This old man was dangerous. His power should be somewhere around the Evil Lady's level, maybe a little weaker. But he seems to know about my high Luck, so that was a little troubling. That means I have to kill him today, no matter what.
The Spirit of Fate was a very grand name. He was probably called by another name too. But that didn't matter. Well, I had contemplated in the past, if someone might notice my good Luck, what would I do? Contemplating such situations could be done as speculation at most. Because I have no idea what kind of person they might be. Even spirits had many different qualities of personality.
While I haven't learned a lot from the old man, he seemed like a kind Spirit. His attack on me was only due to necessity.
Forcing myself to yawn internally, without opening my mouth, tears rolled down my cheek. "Old man, please… I… I have a grandmother and sister to take care of. I promise not to interfere with the Avatar or the world anymore. I just wanted to help people before. Please don't kill me, my sister will always feel worried about what happened to me."
To make yourself sincere, if you can, always make the situation or excuse, about someone else. Saying it that way would make me seem more sincere. Also the reaction of yawning instinctively brings tears to your eyes.
"Okay, okay, let's calm down first, I am not here to kill you," says the old man, taking his sword off my belly, and applying some acupuncture with his finger to stop the bleeding.
Do you think I am stupid? Stabbing me and then saying you weren't here to kill me? If I hadn't spoken, by now I would be dead. You fucking naive old man, doing only what you think is right and to keep 'balance'.
Many spirits have been trying to kill me lately. I am not going to just roll over and take it. You want balance? Well, you can have it…
The old man put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Well, I am sure we can work something out. If you live as a hermit-"
Fwish!
My spear cut through the air, and the old man's eyes widened, there was no longer a hand holding onto my shoulder.
*Click!*
I clapped my shoes and teleported away. Just behind the old man's back.
Clang!
My spears seemed to hit an invisible steel wall, and the power behind my swing seemed to shake my spear, that vibration traveled up my arm.
The old man turned around with a furious look in his eyes. "You faked all that?"
No, because the best lies need a sprinkle of truth in them. But I won't tell him that, just in case anyone was listening in. "When you want to kill someone you should be prepared to get killed."
*Click!*
I teleported once again, this time to his side, and swung my spear at him again. Due to my high level in [Spear Mastery], my spear moved so fast that it was invisible to the normal eye.
Just as my spear was about to touch him, he extended his hand, probably creating another invisible barrier.
*Click!*
But I teleported to his side and cut off his other arm. Though it was a spirit, the way his arm sloped to the ground was like that of a human.
"You lying brat!" He yelled out, as dark energy surrounded his form.
***********
A/N: Unlike the Nemean Lion, most spirits don't have such overwhelming physical abilities. But strange abilities that don't align with any bending, like Koh's ability to steal faces if someone shows emotions in front of him. Doesn't matter how strong you are as a bender, Koh can take your face away.
P.S: If you wanna join my Discord server to ask any questions or see character pics. Here it is the link:
https://discord.gg/bqadGRAUHA
A/N: Chapters in advance in Patreòn
Pa treon.com/HolyJoker
(20+ chapters in advance)
______
Chapter 63 - Promise to Myself
***
Having only three uses left in his [Teleportation Boots], Sokka contemplated running away. But abandoned those thoughts as soon as they came to mind. He didn't want an enemy like the Spirit of Fate scheming behind his back.
If he didn't finish the old man off right now, Sokka knew it could lead to his death. That was something he wouldn't allow. While he understood that one day he might be killed by some stronger being, he still doesn't want to die due to making a wrong move. He would have no one else but himself to blame if that happened.
"Even now I can feel it," said the old man, looking at his arms, which were now just two bleeding stumps. "Fate is moving in your favor. Even my river of fate is moving to your advantage. Just being close to you causes others' fate to move in a way that would deliver a good outcome for you. What a ridiculous thing, it's as if the world lived for you… as if you were the chosen one."
What defines a Hero? Or more correctly, someone who is chosen by the world? Was it talent? Power? No, it was Luck… having Luck was the most important thing that would bring power and talent with it.
The old man was having an existential crisis, he could understand more than Sokka what this meant. Everyone was the main character of their own story, but if Sokka came into your life, then he was the main character of your story too.
"My existence, being twisted to suit you… this is disgusting!" Yelled out the old man, as his kind eyes shined red with malice, turning blood-like color, as the dark energy around him was amplified a dozen times.
Sokka was thrown away the mountain top just from the shockwaves of the energy.
Baam!!
He smashed into the ground, painfully, as a crater was made around him, but his eyes stayed glued to the old man. He could sense the air around him turning malicious. Sokka felt like his skin was being pricked by needles. "I don't understand exactly what you are talking about. But Luck will always be on my side, old man. Even in your own story, you will become the villain and I the hero."
Sokka said that to aggravate the old man even more. A strong enemy wasn't as dangerous as a smart one. He would rather fight the old man when he had more power than having self-consciousness and thinking clearly during the fight.
Fwish!
Within an instant, the old man had closed the distance between them. Sokka hadn't even had enough time to get up, much less dodge the attack.
But now, unlike before, his [Sense Danger] skill warned him of the attack.
BOOOOOM!!!
A large dust cloud covered the area, as the ground crumbled upon itself like paper. The old man's leg had sunk knee-deep into the rock, and his arms had regenerated. Though the new hands were covered in a shadowy, dark, mist.
Sokka on the other hand had dodged the attack by tilting his body just by a hair's breadth out of the attack. Though he was still hit by the shockwave, he had used that to move away.
Now he understood why initially [Sense Danger] hadn't worked. Because the old man initially didn't have any intentions of directly harming him. Even during spars, Sokka hadn't encountered something like that. But now he knew that the [Sense Danger] skill had a weakness.
"Old man, I don't know what has freaked you out so much. But once an enemy wants to kill me, I will never let them live." Sokka stated, showing that he doesn't plan to let the Spirit of Fate escape from here or run away.
Today, only one of them would get out of this alive. Sokka clenched his teeth, and his body lowered, clenching his spear in his hand. He had to finish this in one attack because the more this battle goes on, the chances of him winning will decrease.
[Bullet Time]
Sokka's running speed increased by 300% but he didn't move an inch, the muscles on his legs clenched as a weird aura surrounded them.
To end the battle within one attack, amongst Sokka's countless skills. One stood out.
[Chance Hit - Lvl Max]
The skill he had gotten when his Luck reached 200, would allow him to always hit a target with 100% certainty. Though the skill could only be used once every 10 days. He knew this was the perfect chance to use it.
Instinctively, all of Sokka's senses sharpened to their absolute limit and he could feel his own heartbeat. The old man said something, but Sokka didn't hear him at all, as all of his concentration was in this one attack.
During the battle, the old man had the advantage in speed once his energy started becoming corrupted. But now, Sokka was the one blitzing him, as he disappeared from the old man's eyes like smoke.
Fwish!
The next thing the old man felt was a soft, tickling feeling passing through his neck, arms, midsection, legs, heart.
After that, he heard Sokka breathe a sigh of relief behind him. That was when the Spirit of Fate understood what had happened, but it was too late now and he tried to explode himself, to take his enemy to the grave too. But it was too late as his arms slid off his shoulders, landing on the ground.
The top of his head was sliced, and he was bisected. One by one, his body started falling apart, showing that he had already been cut by Sokka.
"Finally, I am at a level where I don't have to always grovel," Sokka breathed a sigh of relief, glancing at his opponent's corpse. But there was something strange… why wasn't he getting a notification or Exp for killing the Spirit of Fate.
Immediately Sokka was on guard, thinking that he hadn't killed his opponent and had somehow been tricked.
**
He stood like that for ten minutes, keeping his senses sharp, like a knife. But then he sighed, and casually put his spear back into [Inventory]. "So that's how it is."
There existed certain kinds of spirits in the world that were unkillable. Like Raava and Vaatu, no matter what, as long as evil or good existed in the world, they would be there. The same could be said about the Spirit of Fate. As long as fate existed, he would be around. Though Sokka predicted that it would take at least a thousand years for the Spirit of Fate to reform again.
He had read in the Evil Lady's books about Spirits who had a similar existence to Raava and Vaatu. The Gamer Interface only got Exp when they truly killed something, not in a roundabout way of killing them. Sokka though wasn't too bothered by it, while regretful, why worry about something you couldn't change?
Instead, he made a promise to himself. These Spirits had been getting in his way quite a lot. After this war is over, he planned to go and kill off all of them except the necessary ones.
Unlike most people, Sokka didn't like taking things uninvolved, if you punch him, he will punch your family.
With an unshakable resolve, he promised himself to kill off all the troublesome spirits. Sure, the balance might be important to others, but why would it matter to him? He didn't care too much about the Spirit World either.
Sokka started walking, and the scenery around him seemed to change quite rapidly. The Spirit World wasn't something that followed real-world physic laws. Distance sometimes didn't matter, and as long as you knew what you were looking for, then eventually, you would find it.
***
It didn't take long for Sokka to arrive at an empty, desolate field. There were two light pillars on each side that were intertwined and formed a half-circle above ground, in the middle was a red, sinister-looking tree.
This was the place Avatar Wan sealed Vaatu. The evil counterpart of Raava.
Looking towards one of the portals, Sokka saw a forest on the other side. He created a water clone and made him go touch the portal.
BOOOM!!!
But violent energy pushed the water clone away, blasting him to a thousand pieces.
"As expected," muttered Sokka, having predicted something like this. But he usually tested things like this, just in case. He had wanted to get the cursed spear in the Spirit World today, that was something he had gotten information about a while ago from his Information Gocha.
Though since he wasn't in his top condition, and some important skills were on cooldown. Sokka decided to not risk it. What if there was some kind of dangerous spirit protecting the spear? He always tried to take into account details like that.
Sometimes small details were the difference between life and death. Sokka didn't want to be in a dangerous situation because he acted without thinking things through.
While passage to the other side of the closed portal seemed impossible. Sokka had a different idea, as he could see the forest on the other side and was about to click his boots. Which would allow him to teleport to a location which he could get a vision of in his mind and have seen it before.
But before he could get away from here, a dark, raspy voice from the malicious-looking tree called out to him. "Young man~ I must say, your abilities are quite fascinating."
Immediately, Sokka stopped and glanced towards the owner of the voice, Vaatu.
*********
A/N: 2022 coming soon. Within the blink of an eye, another year passes. Damn, time passes so fast.
P.S: If you wanna join my Discord server to ask any questions or see character pics. Here it is the link:
https://discord.gg/bqadGRAUHA
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